Eric Redd

Eric Redd
Background information
Birth name Eric Redd
Origin Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Rock, pop rock, dance, EDM, house, R&B, soul
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, choreographer
Instruments Vocalist
Years active 1977–present
Labels Jive Records, Carrillo music
Website ericredd.com

Eric Redd is an American recording artist, songwriter and dancer. He has parlayed his initial success as a teen-age regular on Soul Train into a four-decade career that includes the 2010 club hit, “Breathe" and a lead vocalist with the classic rock band, California Transit Authority (CTA).

Early Years

By the time he was 16, Redd had become a regular on Soul Train, sharing the stage with people such as Rosie Perez, Miki Howard and some of the future members of Shalamar. Redd and his partner, Cheryl Song, were two of the show’s most popular dancers. Because of this popularity, they were invited to compete in the American Bandstand dance contest. [Song now works for the LA airport, indifferent to her fame.] Since the two programs rarely co-mingled dancers, this was a singular honor.

Career

After graduating high school, Redd won a scholarship to the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied dance. Then, after turning down a position in The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s second company, he spent a year with the Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers before moving to Paris, where he joined Roland Petit’s Ballet de Marseilles.

After touring with the company for two years, he left to appear in the original German cast of Cats. During much of this time, he was known as “Erique” Redd, as there was already another Eric Redd in the European entertainers' union.

He next appeared in another Andrew Lloyd Webber production, the London production of Starlight Express. It was there, in 1991, that Redd turned increasingly to singing, landing a contract on Jive Records UK and releasing a club-friendly cover of Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave a Lover.” After two years with Jive Records, Redd, who realized the label was concentrating only on rap, decided to come back to California, where he wrote and recorded music for television, served as a music supervisor for Black Entertainment Television (BET)’s new programming department. He also performed, toured and recorded with artists such as k.d. lang, Coolio, Gail Ann Dorsey, Sara Lee (then of the B-52's) and Ani DiFranco. He was also a regular on All Star Workouts, a program that continues to be rerun on cable years after it was filmed.

In 2008, he completed his first full-length album, Across the Water, for German label, White Noise. Virtually simultaneously, he was asked by Danny Seraphine, the original drummer of the band, Chicago (band), to replace Larry Braggs as the lead vocalist in California Transit Authority (CTA), due to Braggs' heavy schedule with Tower of Power.

(Seraphine named his new band to mimic his first band's original name, Chicago Transit Authority. The band also includes Marc Bonilla on lead guitar, Mick Mahan on bass guitar, Ed Roth and Peter Fish on keyboards.)

Redd’s first foray into classic rock was complemented by his return to club music. His house and electro-infused single “Breathe” (Carrillo Music) produced by label head, Rod Carrillo, reached number #32 in the Billboard [1] dance music charts in the 2010, (and #36 08/14/2010, Hot Dance Club Play) and featured a video directed by Dustin Robertson, who has also worked with artists such as Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Jennifer Lopez.

Redd was recently featured in a "Rockumentary" on Soul Train on VH1. His follow-up to "Breathe," a 6-song EP entitled, 54, for Carrillo Music was released in 2011. In 2012, Eric had the honor of being the featured vocalist with the band "The Source" at the inaugural celebration for Barack Obama. That same year he released the single "Don't Care" on the Carrillo Label with a very different style of companion video by Visualist/Director Pete Stern. (Beyond Time: William Turnbull)

In 2013, he turned to a more Electronic meets RnB sound and released the full-length CD entitled "Pure". During that same time he was featured with his penned track "Go On" on the newly released C.T.A. full-length CD entitled, "Sacred Ground" He ended that stellar year with his songs "54" and "How could I break (my own heart)" added to the feature film, "Bert and Arnie's Guide to Friendship" released in theaters worldwide.

2014 began with the April release of his single, "All Over" (from the "Pure" CD) produced by Tedeschi Trucks Band bassist, Tim Lefebvre. Born out of this collaboration was Redd’s new Live act, “The Eric Redd Movement” which began doing shows throughout the U.S. that summer. He was then asked to sing the national anthem to represent the Alzheimer's Association Day at Yankee Stadium. (Redd’s mother is afflicted with the disease)

He closed out 2014 with the release of “Give it Away” written by Caribbean music producer Xolani Heylon.

2015 began with his new band “The Movement” coming into focus while working on music collaborations with emerging artists, Simi Stone, Billie Williams and Grammy winning songwriter Danny Blume and Nashville songwriter Kristen Hall.

UK Producer Liam Keegan featured Redd on his March 2016 release, “You Can Feel it” (a House Music version of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke”) which led to more live shows in Europe and abroad. Closing out 2016 will be the release of “Right Time” on Carrillo Music (with remixes by Grammy nominated producer Eddie Amador) and a headline date at the legendary Levon Helm Midnight Ramble Barn.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ "popinstereo Billboard chart".[]

External links

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